Customer PlaybooksDirectory Sync — Customer Playbook

Directory Sync — Customer Playbook

For AdtoSign Customers | How to connect, sync, and manage your employee directory

For AdtoSign Customers | How to connect, sync, and manage your employee directory

What Directory Sync Does

AdtoSign connects to your organization's directory (Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Zoho, or Zimbra) and automatically syncs employee information. This data powers personalized email signatures for every employee — no manual data entry needed.

Key Capabilities

  • Automatic user sync: Employee names, titles, phones, photos are pulled from your directory
  • Multi-provider support: Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Zoho, Zimbra
  • Scheduled syncs: Runs automatically on a schedule (configurable)
  • Manual sync: Trigger a sync anytime from the admin panel
  • Exclusion lists: Exclude specific users from signature deployment
  • Distribution groups: Sync group membership for targeted signature assignment
  • Domain rules: Control which recipient domains trigger review requests

Getting Started

Step 1: Create a Directory Connection

  1. Navigate to Directory in the AdtoSign sidebar
  2. Go to the Connections tab
  3. Click Add Connection
  4. Select your provider:
    • Microsoft 365: Requires Azure AD app registration with User.Read.All and Group.Read.All permissions
    • Google Workspace: Requires service account with domain-wide delegation and Admin SDK API access
    • Zoho: Requires admin server URL and admin token
    • Zimbra: Requires server URL and admin token (self-hosted Zimbra server)
  5. Enter the required credentials
  6. Click Test Connection to verify
  7. Save the connection

Step 2: Configure Sync Settings

  1. Set the sync frequency (daily, hourly, or manual only)
  2. Select which distribution groups to sync (optional)
  3. Configure exclusion list (users who should NOT get signatures)
  4. Set up domain rules if needed (for review request filtering)

Step 3: Run Initial Sync

  1. Click Sync Now on the connection
  2. Wait for the sync to complete (check Sync Logs tab)
  3. Verify users appear in the Users tab
  4. Verify photos are showing (if available in your directory)

Managing Your Directory

Viewing Synced Users

  1. Go to Directory > Users tab
  2. Search, filter, and sort users
  3. Click on a user to see their details and assigned signature
  4. Check their deployment status

Excluding Users

Some users should not have signatures (e.g., service accounts, shared mailboxes):

  1. Go to Directory > Excluded Users tab
  2. Click Add Exclusion
  3. Select the user(s) to exclude
  4. Save — excluded users will not receive signature deployments

Distribution Groups

Use distribution groups to assign different signatures to different teams:

  1. Go to Directory > Groups tab
  2. Synced groups appear here automatically
  3. Click a group to see its members
  4. Assign a master signature to the group in the Signatures page

Domain Rules

Control which recipient domains trigger review requests:

  1. Go to Directory > Domain Rules tab
  2. Add a domain (e.g., partner.com) or wildcard (*.partner.com)
  3. Active rules restrict review requests to matching recipient domains
  4. Blank = allow all (default behavior)

Provider-Specific Notes

Microsoft 365

  • Requires Azure AD app registration with client credentials flow
  • Permissions needed: User.Read.All, Group.Read.All
  • Admin consent required from a Global Administrator
  • Photos are fetched from the Microsoft Graph photo endpoint

Google Workspace

  • Requires service account with domain-wide delegation
  • Admin SDK API must be enabled
  • Domain-wide delegation must be configured in Google Admin Console
  • Photos are fetched from the directory API

Zoho

  • Uses admin token authentication (server-to-server)
  • Server URL + admin token configured in connection
  • No OAuth flow — simpler setup but requires Zoho admin access

Zimbra

  • Uses admin token authentication (self-hosted Zimbra server)
  • Server URL must be reachable from AdtoSign's servers
  • Differs from OAuth providers — no Azure AD or Google Console setup
  • Zimbra egress IPs are NOT in shared provider ranges — must add to tenant IP allowlist

Troubleshooting

Users Not Appearing After Sync

  1. Check sync logs: Directory > Sync Logs — look for errors
  2. Verify the connection is healthy (green status)
  3. Check if users are in the exclusion list
  4. Ensure users have valid email addresses in the source directory
  5. For large directories, wait for pagination to complete
  6. Try a manual sync: Directory > Connections > Sync Now

Photos Missing

  1. Verify photos exist in your source directory
  2. Check if the provider API has photo read permissions
  3. Re-run sync after verifying permissions
  4. Some providers don't expose photos via API (check provider docs)

Sync Failing Repeatedly

  1. Check if OAuth token expired (Microsoft/Google) — re-authenticate
  2. Verify admin token is valid (Zoho/Zimbra)
  3. Check if the provider API has rate limits or changed
  4. Contact AdtoSign support with sync log details

Group Members Not Getting Signatures

  1. Verify the group is synced (Directory > Groups)
  2. Check group membership in your source directory
  3. Ensure a master signature is assigned to the group
  4. Re-sync the group

Best Practices

  1. Start with a test group: Sync a small group first, verify, then sync all users
  2. Set up exclusion lists early: Exclude service accounts and shared mailboxes before first sync
  3. Use groups for signature assignment: Assign signatures by group, not by individual user
  4. Monitor sync logs: Check sync logs regularly for errors
  5. Keep credentials current: OAuth tokens (Microsoft/Google) may need periodic re-authentication
  6. Zimbra: add IPs to allowlist: Self-hosted Zimbra egress IPs must be in the tenant IP allowlist
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